Santa Fe Opera announces 2015 season

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The Santa Fe Opera's 2015 season will feature a world premiere, five new productions and three firsts.

The opera's general director, Charles MacKay, announced the lineup during a news conference Tuesday.

The season will start July 3, 2015, with "The Daughter of the Regiment."

The season will also feature the world premiere of "Cold Mountain," the first opera by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon. The story started as a best-selling novel by Charles Frazier and was later turned into an Academy Award-winning film.

MacKay called it a magnificent story, saying the Santa Fe Opera is honored to play a role in its transformation into an opera.

"Cold Mountain" has been three years in the making. After its premiere in Santa Fe, the opera will be performed in Philadelphia in 2016.

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